* This article was published in the New Straits Times (Northern Streets) on 12th May 2011.

Lameizi Restaurant in Bayan Lepas is famed for its spicy Szechuan-soup (ma la) steamboat. The soup is filled with dried chili, with a layer of chili oil floating on top. Besides this signature soup, there are several other tasty soup bases to choose from — chicken, old duck, pork knuckle, tom yam and fish. The clear chicken soup offers a welcome throwback for those who prefer a more traditionally-flavoured steamboat stock. Each of the stock is boiled for hours for it to acquire its natural sweetness and flavour.

The steamboat at Lameizi is cooked on an infusion plate, which is faster than the conventional potable gas stove or charcoal pot. We choose to have a sectioned pot with the old duck soup on one side, and the sour vegetable fish soup on the other. The sour vegetable fish soup was rich and sourish and includes plenty of salted vegetables (kiam chye).

There are plenty of deep-fried treats too, like dumpling purses at RM4.50 and chucky pieces of fried fish fillet at RM9.

Having some noodles at the end of the meal is a must, as the last pot of soup tends to be the most concentrated and rich in sweetness and flavor. Noodle choices included the thin vermicelli rice noodles, potato noodles and the thick udon.

Somehow, the idea of being able to cook your own food at the table makes the meal seem even more enjoyable. There is also the option of set lunches offering beef, lamb, pork and seafood.